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the negativity is nonsense, there is no need for it. we got a 1.5M left winger. He is worth 1.5M dollars. It is an upgrade from at 0.50M dollar left winger in Benezet.

Atlanta draws 50,000 per game and they only spent 5.5M on dps last year
Seattle draws 40,000 per game and they only spent 5.5M on dps last year
LAFC the best team in the regular season spent 8.3M on dp's last year
TFC is spending 11.5M on dps this year BE HAPPY!!

Look if you knew you were going to get somewhere between 25,000 and 27,000 per game this year, and you knew that spending 11.5m on dp's would make you a solid contender for for supporters shield would you rather spend 21M or 11.5M
if it was your money what would you do??
everyone here needs to ask themselves this question

I donít see negativity. There are some things to like and some red flags. Thatís all Iíve read so far.

[QUOTE=OgtheDim;1916641]Less goals and never really had a breakout season.

Its a risk - I'd say its a little more probable then Mavinga, Auro, Aketke, & VDW but less then Vasquez. More importantly, this confirms that the team is being built around Poz now, not Bradley/Jozy. I fully expect a midfield of Fraser/Bradley, Oso/Delgado & Poz.

good point on midfield and MLS in its overview of this years teams ask the all important question , can this midfield work together ? Their reasoning is Bradley of past is no longer viable . Heís slower and at the back , as we have seen can be beat . Pozuelo is asked to cover up everyone . Imagine ruling the mid ? Itíll take a strong give and take from Osorio . This is the year we find out if he is overpaid .

The new CBA basically prohibits it unless you happen to find an under 23 year old who currently has that market value and yet is willing to sign in MLS which will be next to nobody

That's the reason we spent less this time, MLS rules literally prohibit us from spending more on a DP, not whatever back of the napkin analytics anybody did. Cristiano Ronaldo could be begging to come to Toronto but we couldn't spend more than max TAM hit him on as our third DP. Unless someone had inside information on the CBA coming up any claims about 'knowing' the budget on this DP are laughable

The new CBA doesnít say that at all. It says the owners have the right to change the DP rule so that the 3rd DP needs to be under 23. It wonít happen this year and frankly so many big time owners would be against that it wonít happen until after the 2026 World Cup.

You could be right. You have also described someone that looks pretty much like pre-TFC career Laurent Robert.

Any criticism I have is of the price. He is clearly a desirable MLS player. Not convinced this is a great use of the DP slot.

good point which brings up the question , who are our scouts? How do we find you DPís without important connections . I get a feeling they had a timeline to get it done and took the last available , simply to get back to business . This is where mgmts cost cutting would show up .

Politicians release bad news on a Friday evening so the dominance over the newscycle will happen at a non peak time and hopefully blow over by Monday, so all the negative press they're eating reaches the smallest audience

TFC would have to sign Messi to come close to being anything more than a niche news story in any context and this signing hasn't produced any kind of sea of negative press. Can you tell me exactly what it is you think TFC has achieved by announcing when they did and what they would have suffered if they announced on Monday afternoon?

For starters they missed having a news conference and a big splash. Might have dominated the news cycle for a day, certainly if done on Monday. Itís like they arenít proud.

Yeah thatís all Iím saying. They see it as a risky move and donít want to play up expectations. Iím not saying they are firing all the teachers and ending public schooling so they stuck it on a Friday in the hope no one notices.

Does this Friday thing really apply anymore in this social media and 24 hour news stations age. With the the raptors win streak and the leafs playoff push TFC was never getting attention anyway. If this deal fails we get a new dp this next year, that's what I like about it.

Does this Friday thing really apply anymore in this social media and 24 hour news stations age. With the the raptors win streak and the leafs playoff push TFC was never getting attention anyway. If this deal fails we get a new dp this next year, that's what I like about it.

I am with the folks wondering why we are not talking about the player, rather than the way he was announced. He ticks the boxes that Vanney has been talking about: Winger. Scores goals. Pacey. Can provide a backup at striker. He will help us play the 4-3-3 that Vanney thinks will be successful.

It is true that he has injury risk, but we have done reclamation projects that have worked before (Altidore, Vazquez, etc., and yes, I know there have been ones that haven't).

If he can stay healthy, then I think Piatti will make us a much better team. We were never going to get a first class winger like Willian, who is a starter at Chelsea. As much as I love TFC, we are not the next step for folks like that when they are done playing on a world class team.

First the FO was criticized for not signing someone in 'two weeks." Now they are criticized for making an announcement on a Friday afternoon for a player who comes with some risk, but tons of upside. I am all for criticizing them when they underperform (the Bradley injury certainly looks like it could have been handled better), but we improved a team that made it to MLS Cup last year. Yes, it was with some close, even lucky, wins, but that is what great teams do--play entertaining football most of the time, and grind out the wins when they need to. And I think that with Piatti, we will be even better positioned to play some pretty football and win.

Man there is a lot of negativity on here. Thought Iíd try to pass on some optimism for some of you to consider.

Looks like weíre settling into a 4-3-3 so only need one striker on the field. Yes Jozy will get injured but successfully used Pozuelo during those stretches last year. Weíve kept a large portion of the roster and we all know how important consistency is.

By adding Piatti weíll have another creative force on the field which will only open up more space, even if Jozy is not playing.

Many have been clamouring for our academy to produce talent. Fraser is going to get great minutes this year, and for whatever reason Iím feeling optimistic for Nelson and Marshall-Rutty getting some minutes too. It would be amazing to see some more local kids grow.

Letís also not forget Gallardo. The guy had great speed and I can definitely see him push for minutes this year. He also scored today in their friendly so thatís always a good thing.

We all wanted someone signed prior to the season beginning and we got that. I can definitely see more signings in the summer as weíll get a chance to see how this team performs.

I've gotta say I'm quite confused with the negativity around this signing. We all know Vanney is an extremely detail-oriented coach and he's probably salivating at the opportunity of having someone as competent and skilled as Piatti manning one of the wings. The combination play between Bradley, Pozuelo, Osorio, Piatti, and Altidore is gonna be really good, and if whoever ends up playing RW is up to snuff (Gallardo?) this team can be really exciting in transition as well as in possession.

I think we're also underestimating how comfortable this guy is gonna be with Poz given they both speak Spanish and are of the same pedigree. He also has no attitude problems that we've heard of (no VDW syndrome) and I'll put money down that he's not gonna fail like Aketxe did because he's already proven it at the highest level. My prediction is that a lot of people are gonna be wanting to see that +1 of the contract extended by the time this season is over

The new CBA doesn’t say that at all. It says the owners have the right to change the DP rule so that the 3rd DP needs to be under 23. It won’t happen this year and frankly so many big time owners would be against that it won’t happen until after the 2026 World Cup.

I think they worded it that way to bring some of the more skittish owners on board. It gives them an escape clause they can press MLS FO to enact if they can garner enough support. I bet there's a lot of politicking going on in the background - some reporter should look into that.
Note the CBA is up at the end of 2024. At that point the new media deal will have been in effect for 2 years and MLS will probably have announced teams 31 and 32 (and hold at that for a couple of years) with a good idea of revenue they can expect going forward. I'm sure they'll want the league to be a good as it can be when everyone's eyeballs are turning to NA as the World Cup approaches. I expect the training wheels will well and truly come off at that point.

TFC just signed a "load management" guy when one star player already can't stay on the field and another is out for the first third of the season. We're all hoping this reaches its high ceiling, of course, but damn is the floor low. The club MUST balance this roster better to mitigate the risk.

TFC just signed a "load management" guy when one star player already can't stay on the field and another is out for the first third of the season. We're all hoping this reaches its high ceiling, of course, but damn is the floor low. The club MUST balance this roster better to mitigate the risk.

On the surface it's slightly worrisome, but again we probably have the best depth in the league, so I think we'll be okay.

I'd suggest they minimized it to some degree because a) it had already been widely reported and commented on and b) because of his age and history, he's seen as a transitional player. They have several talented young players behind him at left wing in Gallardo and Shaffelburg, so this gives them a year or two of extra dev time. If they're ready when Piatti is done, they step into that role and the club creates a positive financial situation for itself. If they don't, they won't be tied down with anything long-term and can look at a younger player.

It also recognizes that Piatti, like Vasquez, is talented enough that if he's producing for two straight years, he won't stay; he'll take his final years in Qatar or Saudi for the most money.

The issue is pace and whether he has any. If not, this will be, as Ensco suggested, Laurent Robert part two. Although, it could be argued Robert also had a crappy, negative attitude for most of his career.

I'm not going to say we're depending on Patrick Mullins this season, but...

Realistically, it looks like they're planning another rotational player management system this year, which means they anticipate losing players for a period or periods, and in this league we know that is more common. So he's probably going to to start five to 10 games this season, sub in on a bunch more. We probably need him to have a Tossaint-ish six-to-10 goal season.

Unless they acquire another player. I'm not saying he won't, with regular playing time, as American strikers tend to get better and smarter as they age. But his injury history and past doesn't suggest it.

So either one of the kids goes wunderkind for us, or we need another striker. Are Jakheele or Jayden Nelson ready to contribute anything?

I'm not going to say we're depending on Patrick Mullins this season, but...

Realistically, it looks like they're planning another rotational player management system this year, which means they anticipate losing players for a period or periods, and in this league we know that is more common. So he's probably going to to start five to 10 games this season, sub in on a bunch more. We probably need him to have a Tossaint-ish six-to-10 goal season.

Unless they acquire another player. I'm not saying he won't, with regular playing time, as American strikers tend to get better and smarter as they age. But his injury history and past doesn't suggest it.

So either one of the kids goes wunderkind for us, or we need another striker. Are Jakheele or Jayden Nelson ready to contribute anything?

They've commented about using Pozuelo as a false 9 again already. It will probably be that and Mullins as options 1A and 1B when Altidore is hurt.

I think Nelson is more of a winger. I would expect Mullins or Akinola if they want to play with a true striker.

If we do add a striker it's going to be in the summer window. Probably looking at either a striker or a CB in the summer I would guess, depending on which is more pressing by then.

If we are needing a CB in the summer, it means 1 of Mavinga, Gonzalez & Ciman has flamed out or 2 of them got injured.

************

There was an All for One about the Piatti signing put out tonight. Yes, its Pravda but the guy sounds & looks mature about it all. Shows him & Jason Hernandez going over a video of California training.

OK, he's been injured - but it will be nice to have another football intelligent person on the pitch.

If we are needing a CB in the summer, it means 1 of Mavinga, Gonzalez & Ciman has flamed out or 2 of them got injured.

************

There was an All for One about the Piatti signing put out tonight. Yes, its Pravda but the guy sounds & looks mature about it all. Shows him & Jason Hernandez going over a video of California training.

OK, he's been injured - but it will be nice to have another football intelligent person on the pitch.

That was a really nice touch in the video, having Piatti get involved in making his own jersey. I can't remember seeing that before with other TFC players.

1) I think there is a legit debate about this particular use of the DP slot.

2) All the people who are pointing out the strange PR part of this are saying is - this appears to be a case of the team not wanting to over promote this guy to the general public yet, in case he spits the bit or gets hurt. Which I think is absolutely what I would do if I were Bill Manning.

Some people seem really agitated about talking about this, want to shut these topics down. I donít get why.

I can root for the player and signing, and still point these things out. if others see it differently... fine!

But I hate these dismissive takes that act like questioning anything is insane. No signing like this is easy. It could well fail, that's how it is.

Excellent comments Ensco, and let's debate about it, you always have a good pro or con stand on any signings, they are what I call objective comments,
some folks do seem to have this stand that management don't know what they are doing and could do better themselves which is ludicrous because if they could do better they would be on staff at a professional football club, not some computer game.